Penny Auction List recently interviewed Teresa from Illinois. Teresa’s been bidding on penny auctions for over a year now and has experience bidding on several different sites.
Here’s what she had to say:
Penny Auction List: When you first started bidding on penny auctions, are there any mistakes you made that you would warn others about?
Teresa: The biggest mistake I made was not checking into the reputation of some of the sites, and losing money. I suggest everyone be sure a site is reputable before spending any money. Also, watch the site to get a feel of how the members bid. Some won’t give up at any cost, while others give up easily. Know your competition. Check won auctions to see how much items normally sell for, and know who has won bid packages.
Penny Auction List: What are some of your favorite penny auction websites?
Teresa: I have discovered that Zoozle.com is a good site, and have won on there several times. They are quick to send out won items. Another newer site is Wavee.com. I have won several items there, and have gotten them in as little as 3 days after winning. I have recently started on Quibids, and won items this week, so I cannot really say how fast they get their won items sent.
Penny Auction List: How do you decide which auctions you are going to bid on?
Teresa: I normally go for the items that are lower retail price, as there is usually less competition on these items. I stay away from bid packs and gift cards, which is what everyone goes for. Always make sure you are not paying more than retail for an item in bid cost. I have seen many items go for 3 times their retail price when you figure how many bids are placed, times the price per bid. On sites with bid to buy, when your price gets down lower than the bid price, quit bidding, and use the bid to buy option.
Penny Auction List: What is your greatest auction success story?
Teresa: My best win was a 40 inch LCD flat screen TV for $4.75.
Penny Auction List: Biggest auction failure?
Teresa: My biggest failure was spending $94.95 for shipping on a supposed pool table win, which I never received. I was only able to recover $36 from PayPal. I do use PayPal on sites that offer it, because you do have somewhat of a buyers protection. That site-annieup-has since closed.
Penny Auction List: Is there anything else you would like to share with fellow bidders?
Teresa: I just want to wish every one good luck, and have fun. Bidding can be a very rewarding experience. Know your limits, and stick to them.
Penny Auction List would like to thank Teresa for graciously sparing a few minutes of her time. We love featuring real bidders with real advice. Feel free to post your thoughts and comments below.
Just wanted to fill in a bit of info. I won an item on quibids on 2/9/2010 and received it today (2/11/2010), so they are on the ball with their shipping as well.
Are you familiar with oohilove.com?
I have lost hundreds on this site- I didn’t check them out first. I am wondering if they are legit or if i was just unlucky.
Best,
Amy
I haven’t heard of them-sorry
swipebids.com-I set a 1000 auto bidder on a $50.00 wal=mart card. The auction ended, I was refunded 520 unused bids, but it was not in my won auctions. They claim I did not win, and my computer must have lagged causing ,my auto bidder to not work properly. They also stated that my autobidder ran out of bids. (then why the 520 returned?) They said technical issues could be at fault, but since someone else had paid for the item, there was no “fixing” the problem. This is what you see when you click on it- Price: $21.48
Winner: terbie62
(156 Wins)
Ended
I am terbie62, so why didn’t I win?????????? They refuse to give me where they are located so I can report to BBB. Anybody know where they are located?
Hey Teresa,
Sorry to hear about the negative experience with Swipebids. They are not part of our carefully-filtered penny auction directory.
Hope you are able to get your money back or have your giftcard delivered.
Swipebids is proven a scam site and there’s a class action lawsuit apprently. Go to this site: http://www.swipebidsvictims.com/
Hey Billy,
Thanks for the info and URL. We have to be careful about labeling a site a scam without clear evidence. The class action lawsuit seems to focus on deceptive marketing practices. Though deceptive marketing upsets us, that doesn’t necessarily mean that are a scam. We have to draw a distinction until an audit or court case proves otherwise.
We look forward to more of your contributions here.
PAL